advice / 29 posts found
Are you looking for export opportunities?
In a recent press release, the Department for International Trade promoted its enhanced Export Opportunities service for UK companies. In a nut-shell, this lists overseas governments and companies that are looking to buy UK goods and services. On the face of it, if you are looking for a source of leads for your export marketing activities, it’s probably worth taking a look. Extracts from the press release and the link to find out more are copied in below: The UK is one of the first countries in the world provide this online service, following the launch of the Export Strategy [...]
Powers of attorney
There are two types of power of attorney that you can grant: Firstly, to appoint someone you trust to make decisions about your health and wellbeing if you become incapacitated, and Secondly, to appoint someone you trust to make decisions about your finances if you cannot manage your financial affairs. You can choose to make one type or both, but please note, there is a different process in Scotland and Northern Ireland. A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions [...]
Small Business Saturday – 1 December 2018
Did you know that there is going to be a Small Business Saturday on 1 December 2018? We have reproduced below some of the help that will be available. Access finance available to support small businesses Are you and your business looking to start up, scale up or stay ahead? Start Up Loans of up to £25,000 can give you a much-needed boost if you’re just starting out. Or take a look at the Finance Hub and the British Business Bankfor more finance options for smaller businesses. Call the Business Support Helpline The free Business Support Helpline can help businesses of [...]
Are you in training for the Brexit Marathon?
March 2017 was the date we declared we were going to exit from the EU. This set the deadline for our national drawbridge to be raised on the rest of Europe at the 29 March 2019. This is the first time we have separated ourselves from our largest trading partner since we joined the Common Market – the precursor to the EU – 1 January 1973. It is useful, when considering the effective strategies we could employ to weather the changes that this process will likely create, to visualise the exit as running a marathon. The comparison may seem to [...]
What’s in a name?
Is it possible to register a trading name for an existing business? Sole traders and partnerships You can trade under your own name, or you can choose another name for your business. You don’t need to register your name. You must include your name and business name (if you have one) on official paperwork, for example invoices and letters. Sole trader names must not: include ‘limited’, ‘Ltd’, ‘limited liability partnership’, ‘LLP’, ‘public limited company’ or ‘plc’ be offensive be the same as an existing trade mark Your name also can’t contain a ‘sensitive’ word or expression, or [...]
No money…no problem!
People tend to think that you need a large chunk of capital to start your own business; however it is possible to get started without needing to invest large sums of money into it. You might have a great idea, or just want a change of lifestyle that running your business may allow. Whatever your motivation it is possible to start off with a small budget. Here are three great tips to get you going. Reduce your needs: You don’t need flash offices, or the latest laptop. Take a look at what you really need to get going, bearing in [...]
Ignore these pieces of bad advice
Advice, like many other things, comes in both the good and the bad. Some people dispense excellent advice, based on a sound understanding of the circumstances, while others simply fling phrases at random, with little or no regard for their helpfulness. We work with businesses of all sizes, from entrepreneurs to established family businesses, all of whom have received advice of both varieties. Entrepreneurs in particular seem to be in receipt of an astonishing amount of unsolicited advice. Here are a selection that we have come across: “You must have the smartest offices,” – you don’t need a smart postcode. [...]
Do you know what you are selling?
We hope that you know what you are selling: watches, cars, hedge cutters…we hope that your accountant knows what you are selling also. But do they? You aren’t selling watches, you are stopping people being late. You aren’t selling cars, you are helping people get from A to B. You aren’t selling hedge cutters, you are tidying people’s gardens. For example, you own and run a bakery. You believe your business is selling bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Of course, people love bread, cakes, pastries and pies, so they’ll buy them. Right? Wrong. Lots of bakeries go bust. Why? Because [...]
Adaptability is the key to success
Every day we meet people whose small businesses are struggling; either the business is stalled or heading towards closure. I see the same facial expressions frustration, fear and inner turmoil. And I hear the same words – I don’t know what to do! Time and again we resist the temptation to wish that they had come to us earlier. But often it was beyond their control. If you see your accountant once a year and your business has been slowly sliding downhill over that year, you are in a very vulnerable situation. If you work with your accountant throughout the [...]
Powers of attorney
As we will possibly live on until our 80s, and as that may involve coping with disability of one form or another, the need for consideration of support as we get older is ever more pertinent. Readers will no doubt have heard the term “power of attorney”, but not many, we suspect, will have made the investment and appointed someone trusted to act as their representative if they become physically or mentally unable to look after themselves in old age. If you did become infirm and unable to make sensible decisions about your health care or finances, and [...]